In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S3 started life with a suggested retail price of around £530 while the Apple iPhone 5 still costs £529.

Despite the big price difference, the cheapest price of the Galaxy S4 on a monthly contract (at the time of writing, without an upfront fee and from Carphone Warehouse) is similar to the competition. The HTC One is free from £36, the iPhone 5, from £33 and the Sony Xperia Z from £32.

This leads us to believe that Samsung and its partners are deliberately pushing the price of the SIM free version smartphone to encourage people to switch to more lucrative contracts and also to fend off any attempts to generate a grey export market.